Karl Traugott Zeuner 1775-1841

Started by giles.enders, Thursday 14 March 2013, 12:25

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giles.enders

Karl Traugott Zeuner  Born 28.4.1775 Dresden   Died 30.1.1841 Paris

He initially studied in Halle under Daniel Turk.  He later settled in St Petersburg where he met Muzio Clementi and took lessons from him and then followed him on a concert tour of Europe before returning to St Petersburg.  One of his pupils was Michael Glinka.  Apart from composition much of his life was spent as a concert pianist.

Orchestral

Piano Concerto in G  Op.12  1817
Piano Concerto in E flat Op.13  1823

Chamber

Variations on a Russian Theme for piano, violin and cello  Op.6
String Quartet  Op.11   pub. by Breitkopf & Hartel
String Quartet  Op.14
String Quartet  Op.15
Polonaise for piano duet  Op.10

Piano

Polonaise
Fantasia Op.5
Fantasia Op.7
Fantasia Op.9
Valses and march  Op.8

There were also several Ballets

eschiss1

Also, songs; he contributed to the "In questa tomba oscura" collection that also saw settings by Beethoven, Czerny, etc. (I'm very much fascinated by such things, sometimes publisher-organized, sometimes "Festschrifts" etc. to honor another's good fortune or their generosity (like the BLaF variations and &c &c!)  - the Diabelli sets, this thing, in the late 20th century the Waltz set to which Roger Sessions and others each contributed one example if I recall correctly, etc. ...)

I think this may be the polonaise for piano duet you're referring to - Polonaise in D (2 pianists, 3 hands), incipit is here - @RISM (@ Fürstlich Waldburg-Zeilsches Archiv, Leutkirch im Allgäu \\ Fürstlich Waldburg-Zeilsches Archiv, Leutkirch im Allgäu)

Also this Waltz in E-flat for harpsichord, for instance, incipit here (@ Boston University, Mugar Memorial Library, Department of Special Collections, Boston, MA).

The Library of Congress has these holograph ms of choral works by Charles Zeuner, who I am going to go ahead and guess is the same person --

The thunderstorm: a cantata.--Psalm 97.--Cantata: Make a joyful noise.--Cantata: Praise ye the Lord (1838)--O praise God in His holiness.--The feast of tabernacles.--Quartet, by E. Gottwald.--Fröffnüg.--Chor allegro.--Benedictus.--Venite, exultemus Domino.--Di Geliebte.--Four glees: If thou hast crush'd a flow'r. (There are duplicate copies at the U. of Iowa in microfilm, see here.  The U. of Iowa libraries also have the ms of a 3rd Mass in E-flat by Charles Zeuner (171 pages)).

Hrm. Never mind. Musicsack lists

Charles Zeuner, 1795-1857, born Eisleben, died Philadelphia, birth name Heinrich Christoph Zeuner, active 1824 in Boston. Thing is, Charles, aka Carl, Zeuner may also be the composer of some of the items in your list, too. The polonaise for three hands? The abschrift says "Charles" Zeuner... The string quartet is only attributed to C. Zeuner, which doesn't make things easier. It was published by Breitkopf in the 1810s it seems, but not sure if that settles anything...

eschiss1

Hrm. And Charles Zeuner 1795-1857 is one of the subjects of a book called the Dawning of American Keyboard Music, which suggests anyway to me that maybe some of those piano works are his after all, especially since, as I mentioned, the name on the ms. copy of at least one of them was "Charles Zeuner" - which I took for a typical 18th/19th century naming variant before realizing that as often happens there indeed was a composer by that name who wasn't the one we were discussing...

eschiss1

Hrm. Ok- I for one am not sure what KT Zeuner wrote (as against HC Zeuner writing as Charles/Carl Zeuner) (the In questa tomba oscura setting I will attribute fairly surely to KT Zeuner, I think, though even there the publication says "Del maestro CARLO ZEUNER." (see if you will description of Montecassino's copy of the publication); scans of works by Charles Zeuner, 56 scans of not quite as many works, are at the Library of Congress, and I think me I may edit a few and reupload some to IMSLP if I like them (there's already a Charles Zeuner category there)... or even create a new thread if I like them enough. Anyhow- sorry about the digression. (Below message removed since it occurred to me that a certain number was "2".)